The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education Volume 4, Issue 3

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1 Assessment of Availability of the Human and Material Resources for the Implementation of the New Basic EducationEnglishLanguageCurriculuminKadunaState DR(MRS)HannaOnyiYusuf ABSTRACT DepartmentofEducational FoundationandCurriculum FacultyofEducationAhmadu BelloUniversity,Zaria, Nigeria. Thisstudyinvestigatestheavailabilityofhumanandmaterialresourcesforthe implementation of the new basic education curriculum in English language in Kaduna North LGEA of Kaduna State. A total number of twenty (20) teachers fromten(10)randomlyselectedjuniorsecondaryschoolsfromkadunanorth Local Government Area were used for the study. The results of the study showedthat65%oftheenglishteachersusedforthestudyarequalifiedwhile 35%oftheEnglishteachersarenotqualified.65%oftheteachersindicatedthat the number of available English Language teachers are inadequate while 35% indicated that the English Language teachers available are adequate. The findingsalsorevealedthatthereisinsufficientsupplyofinstructionalmaterials (such as students textbooks, teachers guides, charts, slides, projectors, tapes, audioandvideo,cds,dvdsetc)andfacilitiessuchaslanguagelaboratories,ict andlibrariesinalltheschoolsvisited.itisrecommendedthatadequateenglish languageteachersshouldbeemployedanddeployedtoschoolsforqualitybasic education curriculum delivery. It is also recommended that a comprehensive training/retraining exercise that would enable teachers undergo remedial/capacity building programmes be provided for teachers. Similarly instructionalmaterialsshouldbeprovidedinsufficientquantitiesinallschools tofacilitatetheteachinglearningprocess. Keywords: INTRODUCTION Thedevelopmentofhumanandmaterialresourceshavebeenthefocusofconcern,ofrecent,towardsthe developmentofanation.thisisduetothefactthatthegrowthoftangiblecapitalstockofanationdependstoa considerable degree on human capital development. Without adequate investment in developing the human and materialresourcesoftheeducationsector,thepossibilityofthegrowthofanynationmightbehampered.education isthevitalinstrumentforsocialandeconomicmobilityatthepersonallevelandaninstrumentfortransformationof societyatthenationallevel.basiceducationwhichisthefocusofthisstudyisthefirstlevelofeducation.apartfrom the home being the first agent of socialization, thebasic education school is thefirst place that introduces formal educationorliteracytothechild.inotherwords,basiceducationschoolisthefoundationuponwhichallotherlevels ofeducationarebuilt. TheUniversalBasicEducation(UBE)programmewhichcameintoexistenceinSeptember1989wasexpected to provide free and compulsory education from primary to Junior Secondary levels. However, researches (Okpala 2006, Zwalchir 2008, Maduewesi 2005,Ibukun2009) have shown that the lack ofadequatehuman and material resources are the two critical problems that could hinder the successful implementation of UBE.Like every other enterprise,thesuccessofubedependssolelyontheprovisionofadequatehumanandmaterialresources. Ayodeji(2004)lamentedthatthedemandofeducationisgrowinghighereverydaybuttheavailableresources are not keeping pace in terms of the development. In support of this UNESCO s Education for all (EFA) Global MonitoringReport(2005)providesadetailedanalysisoffactorsinfluencingthequalityofeducationinseveralregions of the world, which it says could prevent many countries from achieving EFA goals by These include lackof human and material resources for schools, number of years and their training, facilities etc. In curriculum implementationteachersaretheheartbeatorkeyimplementers.itisinviewoftheseobservationsthatthisstudy setsouttoassesstheavailabilityofhuman(teachers)andinstructionalmaterialsintheimplementationofthenew basiceducationenglishlanguagecurriculuminselectedjuniorsecondaryschoolsinkadunanorthlocalgovernment AreaofKadunaState. 41

2 LITERATUREREVIEW Humanandmaterialresourcesaretwomostimportantingredientsintheprogressanddevelopmentofany sectorincludingeducation.infact,humanresources(i.eteachers)arethelifewireoftheeducationalsystembecause they plan, organize, direct, coordinate, implement and control the use of other available resources for the achievementofeducationalgoalsandobjectives.theeducationenterprisehasbeendescribedasoneofthelargest industriesconsideringthenumericalstrengthofthoseinvolvedinitsproductionandconsumption. Historicalevidencehaveprovedthatadvancedcountriesdependedoneducationfortheirrapidgrowthsuchas thoseofunitedstates,formersonetunion,denmarkandjapan.itisaglobalassertionthateducationisthesolidrock ofdevelopment.itisexpectedthattheeducationalsystemwillproducethequalityandquantityofhumanresources requiredfortheeconomy sgrowthusingtherightmixofinputs. Zwalchir(2008)hasobservedthatappropriateandqualityeducationdependsonthequalityoftheteaching staffandthequalityoftheinstructionalmaterialsavailableandutilizedbyschools.teachersarethemostimportant partofhumanresourcesineducationalinstitutions.variousstudieshavebeenconductedtheassesstheuniversal Basic Education Programme and how efficiently resources have been utilized towards ensuring qualitative and quantitativefunctionalbasiceducationinnigeria(falayajo,makoju,okebukola,onughaandolubodun(1997)okpala (2006),KolombaandMpaju(2003),EnochandOkpede(2000),Maduewesi(2005)Odo(2000).Infrastructuralfacilities, teachers provisions, instructional materials are among the issues identified that could hinder the successful implementationofanycurriculumatanylevelofeducationalsystem. OBJECTIVEOFTHESTUDY To determine the human (teachers) and material resources (i.e instructional materials) available for the implementationofthenewbasiceducationenglishlanguagecurriculuminkadunanorthlgeaofkadunastate. RESEARCHQUESTION Whatisthequantityandqualityofthehumanandmaterialresourcesavailablefortheimplementationofthe newbasiceducationcurriculuminenglishlanguagekadunanorthlgeaofkadunastate. METHODOLOGY Thesurveydesignwasusedforthisstudy.Thepopulationofthestudyconsistofallthethreehundredand eightyfourbasicschoolsandtwothousandonehundredteachersteachinginsuchschoolsinkadunastate.kaduna North LGEA was used for the study. Simple Random sampling technique was used in selecting ten (10) junior secondaryschoolsfromkadunanorthlgeaofkadunastateofnigeria.atotalnumberoftwenty(20)teacherswere involved in the study. Teachers were classified into two namely, qualified and not qualified teachers. Qualified teacherspossessthenigeriacertificateofeducation(nce),orbachelorofarteducation(baed)/bachelorofscience Education(BscEd)orBachelorofArt(BA)/BachelorofScience(Bsc)pluspostGraduateDiplomainEducation(PGDE). Teachers that are not qualified are those without teaching qualifications and those with teaching qualifications in othersubjectareasotherthanenglishlanguage. INSTRUMENTATION Astructuredquestionnaireforteacherstagged AvailabilityandAdequacyofhumanandmaterialresourcesfor the implementation of the new basic education English language curriculum was used for the study. It had two sections: section one contained demographic data such as name of school, experience, qualification and area of specialization.sectiontwocontainedthecolumnforadequateandnotadequate,wheretheteacherisexpectedto tickwhetherinhis/herschool,englishteachersareadequateornot.italsocontainedinstructionalmaterialsandthe columnforadequateandnotadequate. Theinstrumentwasvalidatedthroughapilottest.Theinstrumentwaspilottestedusingfive(5)teacherswho werenotpartofthemainstudybuthadthesamequalitiesasthoseusedinthemainstudy.atestretestapproach usingpearsonproductmomentcorrelation(ppmc)wasusedtoestablishthereliability.thereliabilitycoefficientof theinstrumentwas0.78.dataanalysisinvolvedtheuseoffrequencycountandpercentage. 42

3 ANALYSISANDDISCUSSIONOFFINDINGS Table1.FrequencydistributionandpercentageofavailabilityandadequacyofEnglishLanguageteachersinthe implementationofthenewbasiceducationcurriculum. Qualification Numbe rofteachers ed Qualifi Not qualified te Adequa Not adequate NCE(English) 8 40% NCE(teachingEnglish) 4 20% BAEd/BedEnglish BAEd/Bed(otherareas) BA/HND 1 5% 5 5 Total 20 75% % NCE=NigeriaCertificateofEducation,BA=BachelorinArt,BAEd=BachelorofArtEducation,Bed=Bachelor ofeducation,hnd=highernationaldiploma Table1showsthefrequencyandpercentageofqualifiedandadequateEnglishLanguageteachers.Thetable showsthat40%ofenglishlanguageteachersarenceteachersthatreadenglishlanguage;20%arenceteachersthat didnotreadenglishlanguagebutteachenglishlanguage;25%arebaed/bedteachersthatreadenglishlanguage, 10%areBAEd/BedteachersthatdidnotspecialiseinEnglishLanguagebutareteachingEnglishLanguageand5%are BA/HNDteacherswithoutteachingqualification.TheTable1showsalsotheresponsesofteachershavingindicated theadequacyandinadequacyofenglishlanguageteachersintheirschools.30%ofnceteachersthatreadenglish Languageindicatedadequate;10%ofNCEteachersthatdidnotreadEnglishindicatedadequateand10%ofNon English Language teachers that have BAEd/Bed indicated not adequate while none indicated adequate and 5% of BA/HNDteachersindicatedadequatewhile5%indicatednotadequate. TheTable1thusindicatesthat65%oftheEnglishLanguageteachersarequalifiedwhile35%oftheEnglish Languageteachersarenotqualified.Also,45%oftherespondentindicatedtheavailableEnglishLanguageteachers areadequatewhile55%indicatedthatthenumberofavailableenglishlanguageteachersisinadequate.thisimplies thatthereisshortageofqualifiedenglishlanguageteachersfortheimplementationofthenewbasicenglishlanguage curriculuminkadunanorthlgeaofkadunastateofnigeria.thisisinlinewithado,akinbolaandinyang(2010)who foundthealarmingdeficiencyinteacherstudentratioasaresultofteachers supplynotmeetingteachers demandin Bayelsa State, resulting in expected corresponding large class size existence. Perhaps one should mention that shortageofenglishlanguageteacherscouldexertsconsiderableinfluenceonstudents learningoutcomesinenglish. 43

4 Table2 Availability(AV)ofinstructionalmaterials/facilitiesinschools Teachinglearning materials/facilities School Remarks 0 CurriculumModules AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV Availableinallschoolsvisited New Basic Education Curriculum NA NA NA NA AV AV AV AV NA AV availableonlyin5schoolsvisited. SchemesofWork/Dairies AV AV AV AV NA NA AV AV NA AV Availableinallschoolsvisited. TeachersEnglishTextbook AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV Availableinalltheallschools. TeachersguideinEnglish AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV AV Notavailableinallschools. StudentsEnglishtextbook AV AV NA AV NA AV AV NA AV AV Available in some schools in small quantities. Taperecorder NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. AudioCDs NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. Video/DVDs NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited Posterscharts,flashcards AV AV NA AV AV AV NA NA NA NA Available posters and charts/flash cardsareveryfew Languagelaboratory NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. ICTcentre NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. Library AV AV AV NA NA AV NA NA AV NA Available only in 5 out of the ten schoolsvisited. Slide NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. Projector NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Notavailableinallschoolsvisited. Av = Available NA = Notavailable Fromtable2above,thesupplyofbasicinstructionalmaterialssuchasteacher sguides,studentstextbooksis limited. Infact there are no teacher s guides, slides, projectors, VCDs, DVDs etc in all the schools visited. Other instructionalmaterialssuchascharts,picturesandpostersarelimited. TheNewBasicEducationCurriculumisavailableinonlyinfive(5)outoften(10)schoolsvisited. Teacher s textbooks and students textbooks are few and there are few, if any, charts, posters, pictures, models etc in the classroomsotherthanbackboard. CONCLUSION Theroleplayedbyteachersinanyeducationalsystemisenormous.Theyareresponsibleforthetranslation and implementation of educational policies and curriculum for allround achievement of the child. This is why the NationalPolicyonEducationstatedthat noeducationcanriseabovethequalityofitsteachers.similarly,nonation or society can rise above the quality of her education. The implementation of the new basic English language 44

5 curriculum, therefore, lies with the teachers. Their qualifications should be scrutinized in order to ensure the successiveimplementationofqualityinstruction.inthesamevein,instructionalmaterialswhichalsoplayvaluable rolesintheteachinglearningprocess,shouldbeprovidedinadequatesupply.provisionoffacilitiessuchaslanguage laboratories,ictcentresandlibrarieswillgoalongwaytoenhancetheperformanceofstudentsinoralandwritten EnglishLanguageandpossiblyinfluencetheiroverallperformanceinothersubjectareas,sinceEnglishLanguagecuts acrossthecurriculum.thefindingsofthisstudycorroboratedthefindingsofadoetal(2010)opinedthathumanand materialresourcesconstitutestrategicfactorsintheimplementationofeducationalpoliciesandcurriculum. RECOMMENDATIONS CapacityBuilding ThequalityofteachersisadeterminantintheimplementationofthenewbasiceducationEnglishlanguage curriculum.teachersconstitutethehumanresourcerequiredforthefacilitationofachievementoftheobjectivesof the basic education curriculum and its successful implementation. Since teachers are the key or heat beat of the curriculumwhattheydointheclassroomhassignificanteffectontheacademicachievementofthechild.capacity building for teachers is therefore, imperative for the implementation of the new basic education curriculum. The capacity building process should be systematic and continuous through workshops, seminars, enlightenment programmes,orientationcoursesandotherusefuleducativeactivities. Professionalgrowthanddevelopmentduringserviceshouldbeencouraged.Thenumberofqualifiedteachers presentlyintheschoolsespeciallyforenglishlanguagesubjectsisgrosslyinadequateforimplementationofthenew English language curriculum. Ibukun and Okebukola indentified teachers quality and dedication as significant predictorsofqualityofeducation.therefore,thesuccessfulimplementationofacurriculumisaresultanteffectof quantityandqualityoftheteachingworkingforce. Productionandprovisionoftextbooksandotherinstructionalmaterials TheinformationintheUBEC2006documentisthatfreetextbookswillbeprovidedforfourcoresubjectsin primaryschoolsandfivecoresubjectsinjuniorsecondaryschools.theseincludeenglish,mathematics,basicscience andtechnology.theneedfortheprovisionoftextualmaterialsforstudentscannotbeignored.manystudentscome toschoolwithoutbooksforanumberofreasons,oneofwhichispoverty.theproductionandprovisionoftextualand other instructional materials such as teachers guide, handbooks, manuals etc. should be made priority for quality delivery of the curriculum. Basic instructional materials such as tape recorders, audio and video DVDs and CDs, posters,charts,flashcardsetcthatwouldfacilitatetheteachingofenglishlanguageshouldbepartofthepackagein the provision of Government in implementing the English Language component of the new Basic Education Curriculum.Itcouldbeargued,though,thatteachersattheselevelshouldimproviseinstructionalmaterials. InfrastructuralFacilities The disarticulation of JSS from SSS in order to ensure the existence of two separate administrations in the existing secondary schools would not only require more qualified teachers, it would also entail the provision of additionalinfrastructuresinthejuniorsecondaryschool.thereistheneedfornewlaboratoriesespeciallyifstudents hadbeensharinglaboratorieswiththeseniorsecondaryschoolstudents.thiswouldenabletheexposureofj.s.(13) students to practical laboratory experiences, acquisition of the four language viz listening, speaking, reading and writingwithoutanyhindrance. ImprovementofTeachersQualityandQuantity Thepopularsayingthat noeducationalsystemcanriseabovethequalityofteachersinthesystem israther aptatthismomentinthenigerianeducationsystem.itisobviousthattheimplementationofthenewbasiceducation English language curriculum depends largely on the availability of teachers in sufficient numbers and quality to perform the task. For UBE to have intended impact on learners, their teachers must be capable of imparting permanentliteracyandnumeracyandsomeusefulcommunicationskillstothem.governmentisthereforeenjoined toprovideadequateandqualitativeenglishlanguageteachersinschools.unqualifiedteachersalreadyinthesystem shouldbeadvisedandencouragedtogoforpostgraduatediplomacoursesonparttimeorbycorrespondencein colleges of Education, universities and other specialized training institutions to enhance their professional competencetoteach.timelimitshouldbeputinplaceafterwhichteacherswhofailtoqualifycouldbeeasedoutof thesystemandnewonesrecruitedtotakeover. ProvisionofAdequateInfrastructuralMaterials Forbasiceducationsystemtoachieveitssetgoals,theneedtoputcertaineducationalmaterials,equipment andfacilitiesinplacecannotbeoveremphasized.unfortunate,thesefacilitiesareinshortsupplyinalloftheschools visited.insome,cases,theyarenonexistenceandwheretheyareavailableatall,theyareindeplorablecondition.to 45

6 enhanceproperteachinglearningprocessinourbasicschoolsfacilitiessuchaslibraryandlanguagelaboratorymust be wellequipped and dilapidated buildings must be reconstructed. Also, teaching aids must be made available to teachers to facilitate learning. The school environment should be made conducive and attractive for proper administration. Moderation of TeacherLearner Ratio per Classroom: Due to the everincreasing quest for education its attendantincreaseinstudents population,thenumberofpupilsaccruedtoateacherperclasshadunmanageably increasedinmostpublicschoolsinnigeria.infact,therearecasesofover100pupilsheapedupinasmallclassroom onlytobetaughtandcontrolledbyjustateacherinsomeoftheschoolsvisited.thismenacecanbetracedbackto nonavailabilityofenoughclassroomsandinadequatestaffingofschools.thegovernmentisthereforeenjoinedto moderateteacherlearnerratiotothenormal1:30respectivelybyprovidingenoughclassroomaccommodationand employingmoreeffectiveteachingforceinordertoenhanceeffectivelearninginourbasicschools. ProvisionofLibrariesandICTCentres All schools should be equipped with ICT centres, internet facilities and functional libraries. This will help teachersandstudentsinaccessingandretrievinginformationasatwhenduewithoutunnecessarydelayorhindrance. Replicationofthiskindofstudy ThiskindofstudycanbeconductedinotherLocalGovernmentareasofKadunaStateandotherstatesinthe countryasitwillhelpintheimprovementanddevelopmentofhumanandmaterialresourcesatthelocal,stateand NationalLevels. REFERENCES Adeyemi I.K & Igbeneweka, V.O (2004). Crisis in primary education management in Nigeria: The need for urgentreforms.ine.ofagbamiye,j.b.babalola,m.fabunmi&a.oayeni(eds)managementofprimaryandsecondary educationinnigeria.ibadan:codatpublications. Ado, I.B, Akinbobola, A.O & Inyang, G.B (2010). Status of human resources: implication for the implementation of upper basic of the universal basic education (UBE) programme in Bayelsa State of Nigeria In BulgarianJournalofScienceandEducationPolicy(BJSEP),Vol4,number2. Ayodeji, G.S (2004). Education and Development: A paper presented at a Training Workshop organized by ManpowerDevelopmentDepartment,NISER,Ibadan. EducationforAll(EFA)GlobalMonitoringReport(2005),EducationforAll, EnochE.andOpkede,E.(2000).TheMeaning,History,PhilosophyandLessonofUBEproceedingsofthe15 th AnnualCongressoftheNigerianAcademyofEducation.UniversityofBenin6 19 th November. Falayajo,W.,Makoju,G.A.E.,Okebukola,P.,Onugha,D.C.andOlubodun,J.O.(1997).Monitoringoflearning achievementproject,assessmentoflearningachievementofprimaryfourpupilsinnigeria.nationalreport.federal GovernmentofNigeria/UNICEF/UNESCO.September1997. Federal Government of Nigeria/Universal Basic Education Commission (FGN/UBEC) (2006). Federal GovernmentApprovedGuidelinesforAccessingandUtilizationoftheFGNUBEinterventionFund.Abuja:FGN/UBEC. Ibukun,W.O(2009).Buildingthefuture:InvestinTeachersNow.ApaperpresentedattheOndoStateWorld TeachersCelebration,Monday5 th. Kalomba,L.S.andMpeju,M.A.(2003).Theimpactofassessmentandcertificateonteachingandlearning:The Tanzaniaexperience.Apaperpresentedatthe21 st ConferenceoftheAssociationofEducationAssessmentinAfrica (AEAA),CapeTown,SouthAfrica,August25 th to30 th,2003. Maduewesi,E.(2005).UniversalBasicEducation,Issues,ProblemsandProspects.BeninCity:DasylvaInfluence Enterprises. Miachi, T.A (2006). A systematic approach to human resources development and utilization: A sectoral analysis.aleaddiscussionpaperattheinteractivesessionwiththeseminarexecutivecourseno.28,ofthenational InstituteforPolicyandStrategicStudies,NIPSS,Kuru,Jos Odo, C. (2000). Towards Enhancing the Success o the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Scheme: The School Administrators Role.Proceedingsofthe15 th AnnualCongressoftheNigerianAcademyofEducation,Universityof Benin6 9 th November

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